The Situation with ESAs: NOT Service Dogs (But Not Strictly Pets Either)

Related to my fake SDs post, I recently saw a girl take her ESA Sheltie into a restaurant, and the manager did not question it and allowed the dog and handler to enter unquestioned.  The dog was well-behaved.  What's the problem with this?  The problem is that the dog is not a Service Dog but only an ESA, which means that it is breaking health codes stating that dogs are not allowed where food is served.  To someone who doesn't know the difference, a Psychiatric Service Dog and Emotional Support Dog sound virtually the same, perhaps even interchangeable, but the difference between a Service Dog and a Support Dog is big enough to be a legal matter.

Note that ESAs do not have to wear identifying vests--I just wear mine as practice for being "On Duty" in my SD vest.

So, then, what is an ESA?
An emotional support animal is any companion animal (not just a dog) that is used by an individual with a mental or psychiatric disability for therapeutic benefits.  Companionship does not an ESA make--the handler must have a verifiable disability as listed in the DSM.  ESAs do not have to be trained in disability-mitigating tasks as Service Dogs do.  They merely provide their handlers with the therapeutic benefits of owning and interacting with an animal.  ESAs do not have to wear identifying vests, tags, or IDs.
Fun fact: currently, according to Dartmouth, I am an ESA!  This is why I have an ESA vest and wear an ESA tag.  Mom and I are currently working on changing my status to a full SD though, so wish us luck!

What can an ESA not do? 
Emotional support animals, comfort animals, and therapy dogs are not Service Animals under Title II and Title III of the ADA, and therefore they do not have the same access rights with their handlers as Service Dogs.  Service Dogs can go anyplace a wheelchair is legally allowed to go; ESAs cannot--this means that ESAs cannot go to restaurants, movie theatres, stores, Disneyland, or any other place of public access with their handlers.

What can an ESA do?
An emotional support animal is not exactly a pet, but neither is it a Service Dog--it's more of a pet with privileges.  Under the Fair Housing Act, individuals with a verifiable mental or psychological disability can have their ESA with them in their housing, even if it has a "No Pets" policy.  ESAs can also travel in the cabin of airplanes with their owners to provide their therapeutic benefits during the flight.  Apart from that, ESAs have the same access rights as pets.

Just like with fake SDs, ESAs entering places of public access can cause problems for real Service Dogs (and it's also illegal).  So, if you know someone trying to take Fido with him or her as an ESA to places of public access, please (please) educate him or her on the issues of doing this--please help keep Mom and other SD teams safe and independent as they go about their lives.  ESAs are not SDs and can harm SD teams as much as pets can, because at the end of the day, ESAs are just pets, too.  Please join me and help me protect the rights and safety of SD handlers and their four-legged freedom fighters!

xoxoxo
Kelsie Iris


Check out these posts of mine:
SD team etiquette -- http://kelsieiris.blogspot.com/2015/04/dos-and-donts-of-encountering-service.html
Confused?  Here are some terms and abbreviations -- http://kelsieiris.blogspot.com/2015/04/as-abbreviations.html